Pair of Freaks
by abs-walkers-12
Summary: Lydia is Ben's best friend and has been since birth. They always got up to mischief, spiking toddler Hal's milk and putting spiders in his hair, how will the 2nd mass cope now the troublesome duo have been reunited? *Unsure about pairings. Set in season 1 and will continue from there*
1. Chapter 1

Peering around the corner of the classroom, Lydia braces herself for the worst. She braces herself for the news that her best friend didn't make it. The weeping Mason boys and the secret tears she'd shed herself. She took at deep breath and walked into the classroom.

The three Mason boys and their father sat in the room. Two of the boys were awake and they looked happy. Tom was the only one who acknowledged the creeping Lydia. He just smiled at her as she sat down beside the cot.

Inside the cot lay Ben Mason. A sleeping Ben Mason. An living Ben Mason. Lydia couldn't help but smile over him which sounded very creepy and weird even in her head. Still she continued smiling over him.

She stayed there for hours with the Mason's. They didn't talk but it was there, the relief that Ben was okay, they'd all bonded over the hope and now it had been confirmed. So they four of them just sat in the dingy run-down classroom not talking or even looking at each other, with their eyes locked on Ben for another sign of movement.

A few more hours later and Ben woke up. He was greeted by hugs and a long talk from his dad about how much they all missed him. Then he just looked at Lydia and for a second she had a thought that he'd forgotten her. "Come here you faggot." He whispered to her and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you, believe it or not."

"Same here dork." Lydia sighed. "We've got some catching up to do you little shit. Who do you think you are, leaving me? What happened to my note?" She smiled.

"Your fat face sucked it up." Ben replied.

"You've only seen her for a few seconds, I'm sure you don't have that many insults Ben." Tom told him.

"Making up for lost time, Mister Mason." Lydia joked. "I think I'll leave you alone for some family catch up." She told them as she started backing towards the door.

"See you later fat face." Ben yelled after her.

Lydia was glad to hear the insults again. She'd never felt so happy to be called fat face again. She was just glad to hear him insult her again. She started walking and ended up outside. Outside of the school was full of overturned cars and sandbags piled on top of each other to create a barrier. It was still early spring so there was still a little snow on the ground and a very strong chill in the air. Lydia grabbed her jacket closer to her little body and took out the packet of cigarettes in her jeans pocket. She took the lighter and lit it up.

Her first drag was almost therapeutic. Her body almost shook with the first bit of nicotine in her body. She stood by an abandoned tree off the edge of the school grounds; if Tom Mason caught her out here with a cigarette between her lips she'd be dead for sure.

She kept puffing away happily until she saw a little figure walking towards her. "Lydia!" It certainly wasn't Ben. He never called her by her real name. To him she had two names, Fat face and Faggot, no matter what name her mother had chosen originally. The figure came closer and revealed Jimmy.

Jimmy had been kind to her, if not sometimes too kind, throughout the search for Ben. She'd been thankful and, in return, had become his partner for scouting missions. He'd been grateful for that. As much Jimmy was a good fighter, his sense of direction was something of a downfall, and Lydia was faster than he was. "Hey Jimmy." Lydia replied, putting out her cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke, you know, the last thing we need is you getting cancer." He said. Lydia looked at him confused.

"One cigarette a day doesn't hurt, Jimmy."

"But it will..."

"Why did you come to talk to me, I'm sure it wasn't a health lecture." Lydia almost snapped.

"Cold out here...isn't...Look, okay; I wanted to see what you knew about Ben Mason. You see close with them."

"I know a lot about Ben. I've known him since birth. My Mum knew his." Lydia explained. "I'm not telling you anything scandalous, Jimmy, there isn't anything scandalous."

"Oh okay." Jimmy looked a little upset. "Don't forget we're scouting tomorrow."

"Wouldn't miss it, Jim." Lydia winked at him and Jimmy left.

She stayed at the tree until dark. She didn't really do anything but just sit there and shiver in the cold. Lydia liked to be left alone with her thoughts more than anything else. This is the main reason she took up various sports because with sport she could be left alone because not many people talked to you while you're trying to run 1600m. She liked the feeling she got after she'd ran after a long while, her stamina was good and she was faster than most, normally she still had energy after six laps around the field.

Lydia had never really understood why Ben insisted on calling her fat face because her face, and body, had no ounce of excess fat on it. She had what most girls her age dreamed of, a perfect body. Sure enough she wasn't the prettiest of flowers in the garden but her body was something almost every girl she met envied. When she went through school she was always told to 'get fat' and every name on the planet from the girls in the bathrooms. Many a times she'd been shoved into a locker or locked in the changing rooms on purpose. Ben had always found her, in fact she remembered he used to keep a spare change of her clothes in his bag on gym days, and helped her out.

They had really known each other since birth. Rebecca, Ben's mum, had been best friends with Charlotte, Lydia's mum, since they went to school. Lydia grew up with the Mason's since her Dad left quite early on and she remembered living with them for a while. In that time, Lydia became very close with Ben especially. A barely walking Hal would just shout at her while her practical twin Ben, still crawling, helped her to create mischief. They'd draw on the walls and secretly put things in Hal's hair while he slept.

Things only got worse as they got older. Ben, the main joker, finally calmed down at the age of thirteen while Lydia went on to wilder things like smoking and drinking and boys. And each time Ben was there for her. When she'd passed out in a park at the age of fourteen, Ben was the one who had to drag her home. When her first boyfriend broke up with her, Ben was the one with ice-cream and Disney films. And, as for smoking, she hadn't needed him yet although he had tried to get her to stop once or twice.

The invasion, however, turned everything on its head. Lydia's mother was one of the first to go. Rebecca died a few months in and Ben was taken. They'd been on the run, the remaining Mason's and Lydia, since then. Finally they settled into the 2nd Mass and they felt safe enough to look for Ben. They put his photo on the wall and set out.

They'd never given up hope. And now he was okay. He was with them. He seemed back to his usual self but she'd have to wait to check that.

"Hey faggot." Lydia looked up to see Ben wrapped in a blanket with a cup of soup in his hands. "Thought you got lost."

"You can't lose me."

"Not with that face, S.W.A.T team would find you before anyone else. Are you coming for food or not?" Ben asked, standing over her.

"I don't know is that soup for me?"

"Funny." Ben grinned. "Come on faggot, I'm starving."

Lydia nodded and followed him to dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

The dinner hall was as loud and messy as usual. Lydia took her seat between Ben and Hal and looked at the soup in front of her. She was hungry but she wasn't sure she'd eat the whole thing. Lourdes sat across from her eating her soup, Lydia had thankfully been late for prayers. "I bet you're starving Ben." Anne Glass said to him. He nodded but still ate his soup as normal. Lydia wasn't sure what she'd been expecting but it wasn't a civil Ben. "Glad to be back, huh?"

"Sure is." He replied. "I've missed eating so much. I can't remember the last proper meal I had."

Lydia was hardly focused on the conversation; her eyes were more fixed on the boy staring at her from a few tables away. He just kept staring at her as though she was an alien. She knew him. He was one of the kids with Ben. He had been harnessed like Ben and made to work for the Skitters. She didn't know his name so she asked Ben who just shrugged.

Lydia tried to ignore him but he just wouldn't leave her alone. He kept staring at her and staring at her. In the end she got up and left with Jimmy, who had been sitting on a different table but was leaving anyways. She walked with him through the halls and just talked with him for a while, mostly about her smoking.

She followed him to his room, or sleeping quarter as Jimmy liked to call him, and sat on a nearby cot. "So you and Ben...are you like...together?" He asked.

"No. You think he'd call me fat face if he was my boyfriend?" She smiled.

"Why is he so mean to you? True friends are horrible to you."

"Jimmy its okay. He doesn't mean it he's only joking. Calm down."

"Oh okay." Jimmy smiled. That exhausted the conversation topics all together.

Lydia sat with Jimmy for about an hour before she saw the boy from dinner walking past. She jumped to her feet and ran after him. "Hey! You!" She shouted after him. He stopped and turned around to look at her. "Have you got a problem?!" She shouted.

"What? No. Why would you think that?" He stuttered.

"Because you just keep staring at me. Gonna tell me why?"

"I'm not staring at you, Lydia."

She paused. He knew her name. Who was this kid and how did he know her. "Who the _hell_ are you?!"

"My name's Rick. Who are you?"

"You've just said my name. You know who I am. How do you know my name?"

"I don't."

Lydia felt herself getting frustrated. "You've just said it!" She shouted. Again he denied it. Lydia had had enough. She swung her fist and it collided with his nose. "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!"

"LYDIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Tom Mason grabbed her by the waist as she flailed, trying to get out of his grasp. "Rick I am so sorry. She just hasn't been herself lately. With Ben coming back and stuff."

Lydia just kept screaming words. She couldn't remember what she was saying but she did remember screaming that he hadn't seen the last of her. Lydia was practically thrown into her cot by Tom. "What the _hell_ was that?Lydia are you crazy?" She sat in her cot, unblinking.

"I don't know what happened. I was shouting at him and then I'd punched him...His face it just angered me."

"You can't do that, Lydia! Jesus!" Tom kept pacing.

"No it isn't just that he's face annoyed me. I just saw him...I saw my mum. I felt so angry I don't know what happened."

"You punched him! His nose is bleeding!"

"What did I say to him?"

Tom sat and put his head in his hands. "You called him a freak. Plenty of other things too. I want you to apologize and I'm putting you on scouting duty all day tomorrow."

Lydia nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

It took Lydia about ten minutes to reach Rick's room, with a quick stop for some apologetic chocolate, or sleeping quarters as Jimmy insisted, it was a nice calming ten minutes in which Lydia braced herself and repeated what she was about to say in her head. She peered around the door and saw him just sitting on his cot, unblinking.

"Hey...Rick." She said.

He turned around and pounced on her. She tried to scream but the wind had been knocked out of her. He pinned her to the wall and he stared at her. "What are you doing?!" Lydia shouted at him.

He looked strange. His pupils were dialated and he looked like he'd been on some form of drug. He just held her pinned to the wall while she struggled. "Rick." She protested. "I'm sorry for what I said, you know. I didn't mean a word."

"I know Lydia." He whispered.

"You going to let me go then...I brought chocolate."

Rick eased his grip on Lydia and she managed to duck out of his stance. "Why...what are you doing here?" He asked. He seemed really confused.

"You just threw me against a wall."

"No I was just sitting on my...I'm so sorry, what did you say your name was?"

Lydia sighed. "Lydia Matthews. I'm friends with Ben Mason."

"You say that like it's your claim to fame." Rick smiled at her and sat down on a cot.

"I brought chocolate to say sorry about before." She took out the bar and sat beside him.

She spent an hour or so talking to Rick, who was in fact a very nice person, and eating the chocolate. She found a lot out about Rick but most of the things she found out were silly things like why he loved the colour green so much and how much he missed his little sister and the silly fights they used to have. He found out silly things about her too like how her favourite disney movie was Princess and the Frog because Tiana never depended on a man like the other princesses did and how much she hated vegetables.

It didn't seem important but it seemed normal and they both needed that. Rick hadn't heard a conversation like this in a long time and it was nice for Lydia to have a conversation without being called 'Faggot' or 'Fat face'. It was nice just to talk about silly things like colours and disney movies.

Finally Rick's dad, Mike, came in and Lydia left for bed. She sat in Ben's cot and talked to him about Rick and Jimmy and filled him in on who was who in the 2nd Mass. She told him how nice Jimmy was and how he didn't approve of her nicknames which caused Ben to laugh. He talked about what he could remember being harnessed and Lydia talked about how they didn't stop. It was nice. It was nice to have him back and safe.

"Can I touch your...spikes?" Lydia asked. He nodded and pulled his t-shirt off half-way. Lydia took her hand and traced a finger down the freezing cold spikes coming out Ben Mason's back. "Jesus Ben."

"Weird I know."

"Weird? You have freaky spikes coming out of your back."

He pulled his t-shirt back on pulled her into a hug. "Jesus I've missed you faggot."


	4. Chapter 4

Lydia was glad to be on full day duty with Jimmy, who had volunteered as soon as she talked about it at breakfast that morning. Jimmy liked scouting with Lydia, sometimes she made games out of the simple things that seemed childish if it were anyone else but Lydia pulled it off and made it fun.

There was only a year or two between Lydia and Jimmy but it looked as though they were the same age; while Ben had aged physically, and mentally, Lydia hadn't and still looked like a pubescent thirteen year old girl with very underdeveloped breasts which meant she hadn't exactly got much attention at school. Lydia knew this was due to her running with all of the running she'd done it meant she hadn't really gained much weight, not that her mother had had anything in that department as she'd remembered. But she didn't really care because she was only fourteen and there was an alien war going on so things like boys and drink had been pushed aside.

Lydia and Jimmy were scouting a tall forest quite far away from the school. Lydia leant against a nearby tree and took out the cigarette packet. "Where do you even buy those killing sticks?" Jimmy asked.

Lydia took out a 'killing stick' and lit it up. "I know a guy." She shrugged, teasing him. She took a long slow drag and, jokingly, breathed the smoke into Jimmy's face. He coughed and spluttered and yelled at her. "Calm down Jimmy." She grinned.

"Smoking is really unattractive, you know. It gives you yellow teeth."

"Because I was totally attractive before I started smoking." She shot back. "Stop complaining. If I knew you wouldn't shut up I wouldn't have said anything about today."

Jimmy sighed in defeat. "It's your lungs." He muttered. "What does your boyfriend think of it?"

"I don't have a boyfriend, Jimmy."

"The razorback?"

Lydia jumped on him. She still had her cigarette in her hand and had wrestled Jimmy to the ground. She held the cigarette to his neck. "HE IS NOT A RAZORBACK. DON'T YOU EVER CALL HIM THAT!" She screamed in his face.

"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. Please, get off me." He begged.

Lydia stared at him for a minute. "Promise not to call any deharnessed kids names? Go and pick on people your own size."

"I promise. Get off me."

Lydia did as she was told and stood up. Jimmy scrambled to his stance and stared at her as she took another drag from her cigarette, which was pretty much just ash now, and then stamped it out on the forest floor. "What are you staring at?" She asked him.

"You've just tackled me to the ground and held a cigarette butt to my throat. You aren't the least bit fazed."

"I wasn't actually going to burn you, calm down."

"I...knew that." Jimmy burrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"I dare you to climb up that tree." Lydia told him, pointing to the tallest tree which stood beside her.

Jimmy shook his head. "No way, I'll probably not get back down."

"Fine. You chicken!" She shouted. She grabbed a branch and started climbing up the tree.

She reached the top, it turned out the tree wasn't that tall, and sat on the biggest branch staring down at Jimmy. "It's not that bad up here!" She yelled down.

"Lydia get down." Jimmy shouted. "What if we get attacked?!"

"Get the pole from up your butt and _live_ a little Jim-Jam."

"Don't call me that!" Jimmy protested.

"C'mon Jimmy! It's calming up here. I double dare you!"

Jimmy thought for a second and looked up at her. "What if you get stuck? Who's going to help you?"

"I can get down myself. C'mon Jimmy! It's just a tree!"

"And this is_ just_ an alien war and we're_ just_ soldiers!"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Get your butt up here now Jimmy Boland! I'll hold your hand if you want!" She teased.

Jimmy had had enough. He sighed and pulled himself up the tree using the branches, just as Lydia had done. He reached the branch underneath her and she moved over so that he could join her. "See? That wasn't so bad." She smiled. "It's beautiful up here, isn't it?" She looked out to the other tall trees and smiled a little.

"Sure." Jimmy replied, looking down.

"Why don't we just stay here all day? It isn't as though anyone's going to miss us."

"Lydia I think Tom would have our butts on a platter if we didn't check in at twelve."

"What do I care? Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if we were...one of the dead. Not as in I want to be dead. Just as in I wonder how much my death would impact people."

"You shouldn't think like that. You'll find out in due time."

"But what if I don't? Do you believe in heaven?"

"There has to be something better than this. But I don't think it's...heaven. Do you?"

"No. I think you just die. That's it." Lydia stared at Jimmy. "So you have to make the most of things."

"How positive." Jimmy joked. "We'll have to leave soon. Tom said he wanted us back for twelve."

"What time is it now?"

"Half past." Jimmy frowned. He started to get down from the branch. "C'mon Lydia."

"I could just jump." Lydia pondered. "It'd be faster. Do you dare me?"

"No."

"I'm doing it anyways!" She yelled.

Jimmy saw her jump and then heard her scream. He practically jumped off the tree himself and ran towards her. "What is it?!" He yelled.

"My foot."

"You moron. I told you not to do it."

"Can you give me a piggy-back ride back to the school?"

Jimmy sighed and picked her up. She jumped on his shoulders and he walked her back to the school.


	5. Chapter 5

Jimmy brought Lydia back to J. High. Everyone was rushing about, packing bags and assuring everyone had everything. Tom Mason stood at the sign, leaning against the metal. "You're almost an hour late." He snapped. "Jesus I thought you'd promised me you wouldn't be late! Why are you carrying her, Jimmy?!"

Jimmy set Lydia down and she used him to stay upright. "So sue us, Tom." She snapped back. "We got a little sidetracked and I fell from a tree. Anything else?"

"Don't get smart, Matthews." Tom warned her. "Is your foot okay?"

"Just dandy. I did a foxtrot on the way here."

"Stop it, Lydia." Jimmy told her. "We've got to get you to Dr. Glass."

"Hey faggot!" Lydia turned to see Ben making his way towards them. "What's wrong?"

"Jimmy take her to see Anne." Tom commanded. Jimmy nodded and she hopped on his back.

Jimmy carried her to Dr. Glass' office, complaining with each step that he was about to collapse. He placed her on a bed. Anne kept prodding and poking her ankle and got difference responses, up to the point where Lydia kicked her. Anne came to the conclusion that it was just a sprain and that she shouldn't jump for trees any longer. She gave Lydia a few meds, a bandage and the strictest orders to rest her foot. She nodded and Jimmy promised Anne that he'd see that she followed through with her prescriptions. He helped her off the bed and took her to the hall.

"I wanna sit with Rick, Jimmy." She ordered. Jimmy ignored her and tried to force her into a chair beside Lourdes. "I don't think this is Rick." She sang.

"Lydia stop being so difficult." Jimmy barked.

"Faggot!" Ben shouted. "Jimmy you can go now, I got her."

"Ben I want to sit next to Rick. I'll crawl if I have to." Lydia snapped.

"Sure thing, fat face. What is it? I bet you think he's hot. Lydia and Rick sitting in a tree..." Ben sang.

"Shut it, Benjamin." Lydia teased. Jimmy just sat down beside Lourdes and Ben carried her to the table with Rick. She slid in the chair beside him and he smiled at her.

"You want some soup or are you trying to get some flab off that face?" Ben joked.

"I want soup you little shit." She told him. He nodded and went to get some food for her. Rick made small conversation with her and filled her in on the whole 'we might be leaving with a guy you've never even met' situation. Ben came back with soup for them both and muttered something about Rick being hot shirtless which made Lydia hit him on the chest.

Rick was a nice person and Lydia liked him but not like that necessarily. Yeah he was a cutie but now probably wasn't the time for stupid little crushes. She'd rather have friends than relationships. Lydia finished her soup and, knowing she had the rest of the day off, decided to spend it with Ben and Rick outside. The three of them sat by the back of the school, by the buses, just talking about life before the invasion and then Lydia asked what it is was like with the Skitters and joked about how they both got sat on by a Skitter which she found hilarious but the boys didn't.

"What's the deal with you and Jimmy?" Ben asked her.

"There isn't one, Benny Boy." She slapped his jaw jokingly and Rick laughed.

"C'mon faggot spill the beans." Ben joked. "He wants a piece of the Lydia."

"No he doesn't. Leave him alone, Ben, he's a good kid."

"He's hot. If I was gay I'd go for it."

"Are you sure you aren't Ben. He's thirteen you know I don't go for the younger ones."

"I pictured you as a cougar you know." Rick butted in, laughing at her.

"Oh goodness no, Rick, you clearly got me all wrong. I normally go for guys like that Pope Guy."

"Old?" Ben asked.

"No tatted up and badass." Lydia replied. "You know with a motorbike and stuff and guns."

"You must be in heaven. I used to like funny, small girls, I remember this one girlfriend I had. She was a great kisser. What was your first kiss like Ben?" Rick grinned at Ben and Ben looked a little upset.

"Ben hasn't had his first kiss yet, unless he found a nice little Skitter." Lydia told Rick.

"I'm waiting for the right person." Ben explained. "And anyways Lydia hasn't had her first kiss either. Bets on Jimmy."

"Shut up Ben. Leave him alone. Stop being such a jerk."

"I'm not. I'm not." Ben protested. "Am I coming across as a jerk to you Ricky boy?"

"Not at all, Benny boy." Rick grinned.

"Stop it you little shits." Lydia threw her shoe at them and they all burst into laughter.

"Can I join you?" Jimmy peered behind the yellow bus at the three fourteen year olds. Lydia sat with a cigarette in her mouth and Ben and Rick were arguing about the looks of a Skitter.

"Sure Jim-Jam." Lydia smiled and patted the soft ground beside her. He sat on the grass and attempted to join in with Ben and Rick's argument but got lost between Ben's large words.

"Weaver's looking for you all." Jimmy said.

"Who invited the party pooper?!" Ben shouted. "Jesus Jimmy."

"He says he wants to talk with you. Says it's urgent." Jimmy tried to stress the word urgent but Lydia just laughed at him.

"Weaver can suck a Skitter." Ben shouted. "Lydia needs a little break. She's hurt."

"Ben stop being a_ jerk_." Lydia protested. "Jimmy just ignore him."

"I'm not_ being_ a jerk." Ben gasped. "I'm just saying you need to unwind."

Lydia stumped the butt of her cigarette on the bus wheel beside her and threw it at Ben. "Did he say why he wanted to talk?"

"No but..."

"I'm sure he'll come find us if it really is important, Jimmy." Lydia assured him. "We were just talking about our first kiss." She explained.

Jimmy felt himself panic. "What was yours like Jimmy?" Ben asked him.

"I...I...uh...it was with this...girl...her name was Sandra..."

"Sandra? She sounds fifty." Ben giggled.

"It was behind...the uh...school...and...It...was..."

"You haven't had your first kiss, have you?" Rick asked him. "Its okay, Jimmy."

"Me and Ben haven't had ours." Lydia explained. "There isn't any shame in it."

Jimmy nodded and gulped.

"I imagine mine to be with someone who has a lot of piercings...even a tongue one so it's all cold and nice and he has to have tattoos and a motorbike. He has to be good a guitar." Lydia felt herself going deep into her fantasy.

"Good luck on that. Let me know when you find him." Ben joked.

"Fine then! What's your dream kiss, huh Mason?"

"I don't think about things like that because I don't _have_ a vagina."

"Are you sure?" Rick asked, causing another argument between Ben and Rick.

"What about you Jimmy?" Lydia asked him. "Anyone in mind?"

"Well...I do like someone but she wouldn't go for me."

"Don't be silly." Lydia told him.

"Well she likes guys who are burly and older than her. She's really pretty and nice and funny. She likes to take risks. But she wouldn't even look at a guy like me."

"Jimmy you're a really great person. I'm sure she's head over heels for you." She smiled. Jimmy shrugged and smiled back at her.

They all sat together, the conversations slowly dwindling into 'I wonder what happened to the Satanists', for a few hours before Jimmy managed to convince them to go see a very annoyed Weaver. He shouted mostly at Jimmy until Lydia shouted back at him that it wasn't his fault and Weaver shouldn't be such a bully. Then she got shouted at. Then Rick got shouted at. Then Ben and then everybody had been shouted at. They'd been so long that Weaver couldn't even remember what he'd originally sent Jimmy for so he ended up to shouting at them to go to bed, which they did, running faster than the speed of light out of his office.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Lydia decided to sleep in. She managed, with a lot of persuasion from Ben, to drag herself from her cot at about twelve, mostly just to annoy Weaver. She hobbled outside first and leaned against the steps beside the opening of the school. She reached for her jeans pocket and took out the cigarette box. It was empty. Lydia shook her head and hobbled back inside to find something to take her mind off the cravings. She found Matt looking unhappy in the hall.

She sat beside him and he didn't even look at her. "What's up curly fries?" She asked him. Matt looked at her and burrowed his eyebrows. "Something on your mind?" People busied themselves with preparing meals and looking after all the other little kids. A group of people Lydia's age sat in the corner talking and some of the girls kept throwing dirty looks at her. Lydia raked a hand through Matt's hair and he flinched. "C'mon, curls, what's up?"

"Nobody's ever here. Hal and Dad are always out on missions and your always with Jimmy and Ben's always somewhere eating or doing push ups." Matt explained.

"Mattie," Lydia put an arm around his shoulder and he cuddled into her. "We've all been busy, haven't we? But you see what Dad and Hal do is really important, Mattie, if they didn't go out on missions we wouldn't have any food or anything. They're keeping us safe."

"But what do you do? When you're out with Jimmy?"

"I jump out of trees and make an utter pilak of myself. But you see that's important too because then we know what trees to hide in if we ever need that information."

Matt laughed at her. "You always make a pilak of yourself, Lydia."

"It keeps things entertaining!" Lydia protested. "I've got an idea. Why don't we go out and do something? You and me. You haven't got school today, have you?"

"Everyone's too focused on this move with the kids to be at school. Will you be going with us?"

"Why the hell not! I'll even give you a piggy-back ride if you want." Lydia smiled. "C'mon, go get a ball or something and we'll go play."

"Sure!" Matt hopped off the bench, feeling a lot happier than before, and Lydia waited outside for him. She felt a little on edge but tried her best to ignore the cravings that made her skin itch.

The air outside was warm for spring and Lydia took off her jacket and threw it beside her. Her foot still hurt but it would be okay just to play with Matt. He met her outside a few minutes later with a ball and, what she assumed was, one of his friends from school. "Lydia this is Will. Will this is Lydia. Can he play with us?"

"Sure thing." Lydia smiled.

"Hey you're that girl who punched that guy! The one with those things on his back." Will looked excited. "That was so cool!"

"We're friends now...It's all sorted. Don't be violent kiddo." Lydia told him.

"Aren't you going out with that other guy? Matt's brother?" Will asked her.

"Ew no way! Will!" Matt shouted. "Lydia's basically his sister!"

"Hey! Thanks very much! Can we just play Matt?"

Matt kicked the ball and the three of the played football. It slowly turned from the three of them to the whole of Matt's class, some burly guys trying to hit on Lydia, some fighters, parents and Jimmy. The game went on for a while because people kept joining and Lydia had to keep sorting out the teams. It finally ended at about four when Anne broke it up, shouting at Lydia that she had to keep her foot rested and then at Jimmy because he'd promised to ensure she obeyed, and everyone went back to doing whatever they started doing before the game. Matt stayed with Lydia and Jimmy when they decided to sit by the buses. Lydia ended up wrestling Matt at some point and Rick came and sat with them.

Tom came and took them all to dinner. Lydia made Rick and Jimmy sit with them and it felt nice and normal. It wasn't soup today, which almost everyone was grateful for, instead it was spam and chips which were a strange change but Lydia didn't think it was that much better than the soup. "I heard about that massive game of soccer." Tom noted. "Heard you guys started it off."

"Dad it was really cool!" Matt promised him.

"I'm sorry I missed it, what was the score?"

"I don't even remember." Jimmy admitted. "I think Matt's team won."

"Of course we did!" Lydia grinned, high fiving Matt. Lydia felt something on the back of her head and she turned around. One of the burly guys from the match had thrown something at her. She picked up the paper and read the stupid annoying message.

**Hi I'm Sam, what's your name? You got nice eyes**

Lydia looked at him and grabbed the pen from her pocket.

**I'm fuck you and you clearly don't have good grammar. I'm not interested. **

She threw the paper back at him and felt very proud of herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Lydia practically attempted to ignore almost all of the bury guys after that. Sam had attempted to send her little messages through Jimmy but each time she'd sent them back threatening to know him senseless. Jimmy had started to grow old of the messages and pulled a whole Hermione Granger and screamed 'I AM NOT AN OWL YOU TWAT' at him which had been very amusing to watch. Rick and Ben kept threatening to beat him up too if he didn't leave her alone. Lydia just hoped he got the message.

She had grown closer to Rick through the days and learned that he had terrible mood swings and he always thought about the Skitters and how they'd cared at him. She sometimes liked what she heard when she talked to Rick. He was smart and liked to use long words, just like Ben, and he liked debates. Lydia liked Rick because of this. Ben had been strange lately, he was now more athletic and preferred to use smaller words and they hadn't had a single debate since he got back, and in some way he just didn't seem there anymore. Still Lydia attempted to ignore it but she just got the sense he didn't like being with her anymore.

Jimmy hadn't changed; he was still the little innocent funny Jimmy. He felt sorry for her because, with her not resting her foot, she had been put off duty for a little while longer than planned and to make up for it Jimmy came and sat with her regularly and talked about things with her. He'd bring Nemo sometimes and Nemo would curl onto her lap and demand to be stroked and loved. She'd just sit in her cot and Nemo would, miles ahead of Jimmy, jump into her lap.

It was nice to take a break from the bustling life of a fourteen year old scout.

Lydia lay in Rick's cot on the morning of the decider. She watches him pace back and forth through the top of the book she is reading, he's annoyed at something that had happened but Lydia wasn't really listening. She's too involved in the John Green book firmly in her hands, trying not to bawl her eyes out. "I just think it'll be better if I was just harnessed you know. I should just go back." He mumbles to himself.

"What? Rick sit down." Lydia barks. She closes her book carefully and looks at him. "Why do you want to go back?"

"They understand me." He replies. Lydia felt a little hurt.

"Oh shut up." She practically spat at him. She throws the hard-back book at him. "Sit down now."

"Lydia you don't understand." He promises her. He sits beside her and she sits up just for him.

"Yeah, yeah. Nobody understands you, blah blah." She rolls her eyes at him and he sighs. "Stop being such a hormonal cow!" She tells him. She throws his pillow at him and he doesn't move. "You don't want to go back, Ricky, they just want you to think you do."

"But I do."

Lydia hits him on the back of the head. "Don't you talk like that, buddy, we've been over this. You are not going back." She narrows her eyes at him. "I won't let you. You have to get through me first."

"I don't _want_ to be here." He makes it sound apologetic. "Lydia I can't stay here. Me and Ben don't belong here. _You_ belong here with Jimmy and Ben's brothers. We don't_ belong_ with you."

Lydia stares him straight in the eyes. "You are not taking my Ben away from me. I won't let you leave. I'll chain you to this cot if I have you. You know I'll do it, Rick. Don't talk like that." He stares at her and then smiles.

She smiles back. "Now you have to find my place in the book for me, jackass." He picks up the book for her and looks at the cover.

"The Fault in our stars..." He says. "I've read that...my favourite was Isaac."

She takes the book from him and looks through the pages, searching for her place. "I like Isaac but I prefer Augustus...that makes me a stupid reader, right?"

"Not at all. It makes you a good judge of character." Rick tells her.

"I wonder what happened to them. The famous people?"

"They probably died some might have got harnessed." Rick shrugs.

"I can't imagine a child actor running around picking scrap metal up for Skitters. They wouldn't dare."

"I don't think it matters anymore. There isn't any use for them anymore, now they can be normal people with normal lives."

"Except there's an alien invasion."

"Well yeah." Rick stops and looks down. "I can do things now...things I couldn't do before."

"Woah! Woah! Go talk to Ben about that he knows all about the guy puberty penis thing!" Lydia drops the book and holds up her hands. "I only know about the vagina!"

"No! Not that!" Rick stutters. "No! I mean...I can hear things and I can do things. I could run for hours and not be tired."

"I can do that it isn't such a big deal." Lydia has pretty much given up on the book.

"But it is...I used to be unable to walk up stairs without panting."

Lydia laughs. "Sounds like Ben."

"But now..."

"Hey, it's probably nothing but go see Dr. Glass to make sure, you know." Lydia smiles. "Look...I've got to go and talk to Weaver. I'll see you later, huh?"

She stands up to leave and Rick grips her arm. "Don't tell him." He orders.

"Don't worry, you creep, I won't."

And she leaves Rick with her copy of a John Green book and his thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

Lydia went straight to Weaver's office, hobbling and accidently stabbing people's toes with her crutch, and knocked on the door. The old man was sat at his desk going over some plans for something, as usual. She opens the door and pops her head around the side. "You wanted to see me, Dan?"

"Captain Weaver." He pretty much growls at her.

"Sure thing." She smiles and hobbles in. She takes the seat in front of him and he looks up from his plans. "What's up?" She crosses her arms and smiles at him.

"You've heard about the plans to move the kids?" Weaver asks her. Lydia nods. "Jacobs, I want you to go."

"It's Matthew's and what about my foot?" She looks down and then back at him.

The little office is lit by only two candles on the desk. It's quite dark now and it was a little chilly but the window was still wide-open. A torn flag hung behind the corkboard behind Dan's head. The corkboard had maps and plans and schedules, and other pointless pieces of paper, pinned to it. Lydia didn't know how Weaver read his own writing because it looked like a spider had crawled across the page. The map was of America and had red and blue pins mapped in different places, indicating where Skitter bases were and other camps. Book shelves, more like piles, or strategy diaries were stacked on either side of the corkboard.

Weaver thinks for a moment and then begins, not even bothering to look up from the map laid out on the desk. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. We've got Mike going but no vehicles and Mike isn't medically trained at all, if your ankle goes bust then you'll have nothing there until you get to the 7th."

"Lourdes is going isn't she?"

He finally looks up and nods. "It'll be her decision but I'm not too sure what her response will be. I can't assure anything. When should your ankle be healed?"

"It's getting better, Dan, but Anne says not until another week. What's all this about the break in last night, Jimmy came to see me and he was shaking."

"Jimmy's a good kid." His eyes lock on Lydia and she almost shudders. Lydia never made a habit of staying in Dan Weaver's path but now that he was full on looking her up and down she felt colder than before. Something about his eyes was cold and hard and almost non-human and that scared Lydia.

"That's it, Dan, Jimmy's a kid." She tried to ignore his gaze by looking at her shoes but it didn't make her statement as powerful as she had intended and she sounded more like an embarrassed child than anything else. "He shouldn't be fighting. He should be being worried about what high school and getting his first crush and thinking about his first girlfriend."

"Neither should you, Lydia. I know what you mean and that's why you're both going with Clayton. Before you start arguing, Lydia..."

"I wasn't going to but what about Jimmy. You think he's going to come with us?"

"I wanted you to speak with him...you have a lot of influence on him."

Lydia finally looks up and faces the terrifying gaze of Weaver. "Well have you asked him? There's more of a chance of him going if you don't treat him like a kid."

"I've been busy as you said before we had a breach."

"And Jimmy was the one who got attacked."

"He's a soldier. He made his choice."

Lydia snarls at him. "If I could knock you senseless I would. You disgust me. He's just a kid."

"He's the one who signed up for this."

"What?! An alien invasion?!" She stands up from her seat, anger pulsing through her body.

"You know what I mean! You did the same when you became a soldier, Jacobs." Dan stays calm and even asks her politely to sit back down but she ignores him.

"MATTHEWS!" She shouts at him.

"Sit back down. That is an order."

"Really?! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST BOSS ME AROUND?! WELL SCREW YOU!"

"Soldier Jacobs I am ordering you to sit your ass back down on that chair."

"Or what?"

"Sit back down." He's pretty much threatening her now.

She obeys and folds her arms.

"You'll talk to Jimmy for me then?"

"Fine." She sighs. "Anything else?"

"No."

"Then I'm leaving."

"Didn't ask you to stay." Dan shoots back.

"Your an ass." She tells him.

"I'm also your boss so get out."

"Oo scary. Your still ugly when your scary."

"Your dismissed Jacobs, get out."

"Matthews." She takes her crutches and starts hobbling toward the door.

He hasn't noticed so he still shouts at her to get out but she just laughs and finally leaves.


	9. Chapter 9

Lydia decides to go and see Jimmy straight away. She knew she'd find him in his 'sleeping quarters' as he insisted. He's sitting in his cot and Nemo is curled on his lap, demanding affection. Lydia knocks and Jimmy jumps, causing Nemo to pounce off his lap and bark at her. The dog then realises she is of no threat and waddles up to her to greet her. Lydia rakes a hand through his fur and starts to walk towards Jimmy who is busy trying to cover up being startled.

Jimmy's 'quarters' is usually shared by five men, soldiers that Lydia didn't know the name of, and obviously Jimmy. With it being shared by such a small space to share amongst five people and not being regularly cleaned, the place was filthy. Dirty bed sheets were piled high in a corner, other dirty clothing strewn in it, and Lydia swore she saw a 'lad's mag' half-hidden beneath a cot. The place stunk, even though the window was constantly open, of sweat and dirty underwear. It smelled like that time she walked into Hal's room unannounced and caught him half-naked with Jazz pants Rita when she was twelve.

She slinks beside him, putting her crutches on the floor, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "How're you doing?" She asks him.

"I'm fine." He sighs and brushes her off.

"You know you can talk to me if you need to, Jimmy."

He's avoiding her gaze, which is annoying her more than anything else.

"I feel so stupid. I've killed loads of Skitters and why does this one affect me so much?" He asks her.

"Because this one attacked you. It's perfectly normal to be startled after you've been attacked."

"If I hadn't offered to..."

"If you hadn't offered to go on watch last night we could all be dead. You saved us all. You warned us about the skitter and the mech. Tell that to the girls at the juice box counter, they'll be swooning over you best watch out you'll have them all over you."

Jimmy finally breaks into a smile. "I doubt that. I think Ben gets all the attention."

"Not after they hear about your act of heroism. They'll be putty in your hands." She rubs her hands together and Jimmy laughs. "Might even get that first kiss."

"You said you wouldn't tease me about that and you haven't had yours either." He protests, positioning himself to lay in his cot. "I think Rick likes you."

"Everyone does."

"No I mean...actually does. He told Ben who told me."

"Jesus I haven't had a conversation with Ben for ages. I miss his big words."

"Didn't know where that was going."

"Your thirteen, Jimmy, you shouldn't be thinking like that." Lydia pretends to look shocked and Jimmy just laughs at her. "Rick doesn't have a thing for me at all."

"Well do you like him?"

"No. There are aliens on our doorstep and you think I have a crush on someone? Get a grip Jimmy."

"What's wrong with a harmless crush?" Jimmy asks her.

"Aliens. If you get too attached to someone it's going to hurt more when they take them."

"You're attached to Ben..."

"I didn't come here to talk about this. Okay?"

"What did you come here for then?"

"The kids are leaving with Clayton, are you coming?"

"I actually get a choice?"

"Not really. I'm not leaving you behind."

"Fine." Jimmy crosses his arms and sighs.

"Go tell Weaver. He gives me the skeevies." Lydia told him.


End file.
